ignore this please for the sake of your own sanity
by Shika T
Summary: An abandoned so bad that it defies description.
1. Prologue

_All trademarks and copyrights used in this story are respected and acknowledged. No infringement of copyright is intended. Please don't sue me._

Thousands of years ago, two Pokémon waged war against one another, nearly causing the destruction of the world. This is how the story goes:

Back then, there was only one village of priests and elders who worshipped two Pokémon. One of these was Kyogre, the mighty Sea Basin Pokémon, who possessed the ability to control water; the other was Groudon, the Continent Pokémon, with the power to intensify the heat of the sun. There was a legend that when the planet was in danger of dying, the powers of Kyogre and Groudon would save them.

Fast forward a couple hundred years. Life was... less than good. Rain had been scarce over the past few years, which meant crops yielded very little. The elders had considered calling on Kyogre to provide them with rain, and decided that they would be able to control such a beast with their combined power.

The village got more than they bargained for. With its ability to summon torrential rains at will, Kyogre covered the land of Hoenn in a watery prison. Most plant life drowned; whole mountains eroded. It is said that after seeing the entire planet flooded to its liking, Kyogre simply returned to the ocean from whence it came.

Those who survived Kyogre's onslaught fled. After much deliberation over the dangers involved, the elders decided that the only way to save the world was to call upon the powerful Groudon to save them from Kyogre's rains. Groudon embodied the power of the earth itself, and used its power to intensify the sun's rays in order to dry the entire continent. The rains vanished and the flooding waters receded. To the remainder of the people, Groudon was a godsend. However, Groudon's strength proved to be much more than what they had expected. It dried the earth of all moisture, and burned what plant life remained. The heat that resulted from Groudon's help was unbearable, and people burned from simply standing in the sun. Like Kyogre before it, Groudon retreated to deep below the surface.

The elders did not want to summon Kyogre once again, for fear that they would suffer another flood. Someone suggested that both Kyogre and Groudon be summoned at the same time to keep the world in balance. This solution was agreed upon, and the two beasts were called forth. Kyogre came first. It saw that the land had been dried up, and again covered the land in a big flood. Groudon appeared shortly after that, and saw that the land was flooded. It heated up the earth and dried the water. This process of flood/drought repeated itself until one colossus caught sight of the other. They deduced that the other was the cause of the first one's problem, and thus began a war that would almost end the world.

Groudon unearthed mountains from deep below the earth and caused vicious earthquakes. Kyogre countered and filled the earth with water, and began to erode the mountains Groudon had formed. Unable to flee, and afraid that Kyogre and Groudon would destroy the planet with their battle, the elders crafted two balls - the Red Orb and the Blue Orb - that would be used to keep the two giants' power under control. They were reluctant in their ability to enchant these two Orbs that would very well be housing the power of the gods, but they were successful in their endeavor. Groudon's power was kept in the Red Orb; Kyogre's in the Blue Orb. Of course, these Pokémon were still powerful in every sense of the word. It is said that, after the Orbs had becalmed them, the two Pokémon retreated to different parts of what is now known today as the Cave of Origin.

Now that the two monsters had been put to rest, there was the slight problem of the mountainous, flooded earth. Not knowing what else to do, the elders prayed to the very gods whose power they had just captured. Their efforts seemed futile; everyone quickly gave up. One man, however, refused to give in. He continued to pray day in and day out, hardly ever ceasing. This man would later be revered as a hero, because after finishing one of his many prayers, the sky grew dark. A beam of light shone from far away, and the villagers got into a boat and paddled their way towards it. Much to their dismay, however, they saw that the light vanished when they started to get close. With heavy hearts, they turned around and started the journey back home. Our friend the not-yet hero couldn't help but notice that when they were far away, the light returned. He pointed this out to his friends, who came to the conclusion that this man was not ordinary. He alone was chosen to see if he could find out what the light was all about, so he got into the boat and paddled his way there.

The villagers were right; the light did not dissipate when this man neared it. The place where the light struck was green and healthy; it was a diamond in the rough. Humbled, the man instantly dropped to his knees in observance of this god who had come to his planet. This god spoke with the man through his mind and told him that he had come here to grant him a wish. Now, when your world's basically flooded with very little food or people, it doesn't take much effort to think of a wish. Being the nice guy that he was, the man wished that the excessive waters would vanish and the world would return to a lush, green place where the villagers would thrive. And so it was. In a flash of light, the water was gone. The god swept over Hoenn, creating life where death stood just moments before. After its job had been done, the god had simply bowed its head to the man... and vanished.

One can assume that since civilization still exists now, a couple millennia later, that the ancient village of old did indeed thrive and reproduce. Either that, or there was some other society of people that the early texts don't speak of. It isn't important. Now that you've some background on what happened back then, what say we get focused on the here and now?


	2. Swept Away

_All trademarks and copyrights used in this story are respected and acknowledged. No infringement of copyright is intended. Please don't sue me._

Every good story needs a protagonist. Ours happens to be sleeping at the moment. Before we're interrupted by the sound of his alarm clock, allow me to tell you, the reader, a bit about him. Enter Cody Alexander Kwan, a 17-year-old male of mixed descent living with his mother in Los Angeles, California. He stands 6'3" and weighs in at an even 200 pounds. Not bad, considering he's a wide receiver for his high school varsity football team. No, he's not a star, and he, like the rest of the team, is usually in the quarterback's shadow most of the time, but he's happy with his position. Not strangely enough, he's also single. His friends do tell him that he should spike his jet-black hair if he wants to get the ladies, but our soon-to-be hero prefers to keep it brushed. One of his friends, who you'll meet a little later, has a crush on him. Unfortunately for Cody, this friend happens to be a guy. Poor him. One thing that is strange is that Cody always carries around a pencil. No, it's not just to be prepared. For him, this pencil was special. Not given-to-him special, mind you. More like fell-on-it-and-it-stabbed-him-in-the-arm special. At any rate, he never leaves anywhere without it. Considers it lucky, he does. Back to the present. Right now, Cody's sleeping because his team just won the championship game the previous night, and he had gone out partying afterwards. No, Cody didn't pass out and need to be carried home. Think about it for a minute: would he still be on the team if he had?  
Now, the thing you don't know is that Cody's alarm has already gotten off twice (Great invention, that Snooze button, don't you think?). Today is the last day of school for Cody, and he's going to be a bit rushed if he doesn't get up soon. Let's watch.  
"Cody! Get out of bed! If you're late today, I'm not making you any chicken noodle soup tonight!" Mrs. Kwan shouted up the stairs to her son's bedroom door. And yes, you read that correct; chicken noodle soup. Cody was a well built, strong, tough-guy manly man, like one might expect from a football player, but to him, nothing beat his mother's chicken noodle soup. This was a weekly tradition for him and his mother; they had soup together every Monday night. One can tell that what I have just told you is true, because at those words, Cody's bedroom door flew open.  
"I'm up, I'm up! For crying out loud, today's the last day! Can't a guy get some sleep around here?" Cody yelled down to his mother. He looked at the clock. The time was 7:30. Finals started in half an hour. After thinking for a minute or so, he decided it best to clean himself up before leaving, and remove the smell of football, among other things. He grabbed a change of clothes from a chair nearby and headed into the bathroom. "I can already tell that today just isn't going to be my day," Cody grumbled as he turned on the water for his shower. As it turns out, Cody wasn't far off in his prediction; hot water was almost non-existent. "Oh, this is just great," Cody thought. "How am I supposed to take a shower in this? Gotta leave, though... aww, skip it." Cody quickly removed his clothing, clenched his teeth, and jumped into the icy shower.  
Twenty minutes later, a clean and dressed Cody was walking out the door. He didn't have long to get to school, so his mom allowed him to take her car. This was a rare occurrence; Cody's mom was a firm believer that if you want something (in Cody's case, a vehicle), you should have to purchase it with your own money. Cody literally jumped into the driver's seat of the pink convertible, fired up the ignition, and slammed his foot into the gas pedal.  
Now, wouldn't it be great if Cody had forgotten to put the car in reverse, and upon connecting his foot with the pedal, sent his mom's car into the wall? Well, had the car not already been facing the correct direction, that's exactly what would have happened. Cody sped onto the street, and with a squeal of tires, left for school.  
It's amazing that not only did Cody not get pulled over by a cop, he found time to stop and buy a donut. With just two minutes to spare, and after doing a less-than-perfect parking job, Cody ran like his life depended on it to his first class. With the door in sight and a smile on his face because of the fact that he would be eating his beloved chicken noodle soup twelve hours from then, he burst into the classroom and took his seat. "Yes! Made it!" Cody thought to himself. He breathed a sigh of relief as the 8:00 bell rang. And then it hit him.  
He had forgotten his lucky pencil. The color drained from his face, and he just sat there, staring at nothing. Unfortunately, he failed to notice that he was staring directly at the girl next to him – right at her sizable chest. After being brought back to reality by a slap to the face, courtesy of the neighbor girl, Cody sat there with a mopey look on his face.  
"Hey Cody! Why so down? It's the last day of school! You look like you just got hit by a truck," said a voice from behind. Cody turned to find Tara Williams, someone he had known since childhood. They were friends, it was true; neither one had any interest in taking it any further, which didn't help Cody's bachelor status.  
"I forgot my lucky pencil at home this morning," Cody explained.  
"Oh come on. Don't worry about it. It's just a pencil. Here – take one of mine. I've got five. You might say that I've over-prepared," Tara said. She extended a hand that contained one of five bright green pencils, pre-sharpened. Cody stared at it for a minute, and then slowly took it.  
"Thanks... it's not the same, though. I mean, I've had that pencil ever since the beginning of senior year. It's gotten me through so many tests it's not even funny, and now, with one day left, I'm stupid enough to leave it at home. I'm gonna bomb this exam. I can't believe –"  
"Cody! Test is out! Shut up and get to work!" Mr. Menya, the teacher said.  
"Sorry, Mr. Menya," Cody apologized. Trying not to mourn too much over the absence of his pencil, Cody gathered his thoughts, picked up the pencil that was lent to him, and began to write.

Meanwhile, in the skies of Hoenn, two men in different-colored robes looked into a large blue cauldron-like thing, which had shown them the events that had transpired this morning. "Look at him. What a fool. He can't even remember a simple task as being prepared for an intelligence questionnaire of some kind. How is he supposed to be the one who'll be the next Master?" one said, dressed in red. "Hey, don't ask me. The pot doesn't lie. If this kid is what the pot shows, then he'll be the next Master," the other retorted, clad in blue. "But look! Do you recognize anywhere that you've seen so far? This boy isn't from around here. I'd be willing to bet any amount of money that he's never even heard of a Pokémon. Just one look at a Poochyena would send him running. I can see it now. Are you absolutely sure that this kid is the next Master?" the first one said. These two men were what you would call overseers of Hoenn; their job was to check and see if anyone would be the one person to hold the title of "Master", which denoted that they were a master Trainer of Pokémon of all kinds. Since this one person doesn't appear every day, one might say that they were bored quite often, but that isn't important. The important part is that, unbeknownst to him, Cody had been chosen by destiny to be a Master. "Hey! We're not exactly helpless. Surely we can do some inter-worldly travel," the second one reassured. "How hard can it be?" "Well, maybe you're right, but I'd like to see how he does on these questionnaires of his. If he is truly going to be the next Master, I would certainly hope he is knowledgeable of his own world."

Flash back to Cody's world, three hours later, and we find that he has since participated in the graduation ceremony, and is talking with Tara along with two other people. One of them is Joe Collins, the friend I told you about earlier; the other, Charlie Baker, is the quarterback. "Hey, you guys want to go and play some football later?" Charlie inquired. "I'm in if you guys are," Tara replied. Though she was a girl, she was a tomboy in all aspects of the word, and frequently joined the men for a rousing game of tackle football. She was no pushover, either. Those who thought otherwise were usually corrected via a tackle to the ground. "I'm not sure," Joe answered. "Football's not really my thing." "Come on, it'll be fun," Charlie said. "Besides, we need a fourth person, and you don't want it to be uneven teams, do you? You're playing. Cody? You're in, too, right?"  
Cody looked at his watch. Chicken noodle soup time wasn't for a few more hours. "I guess I'll play. I have plenty of time, and I need to get all this excitement out. Don't cry when I plow you into the dirt, Tara, okay?" he joked.  
"Oh, okay," Tara retorted. "Just make sure you don't cry when you can't catch me when I run for a touchdown!"  
And with a playful shove, Tara ran towards the empty field. "Hey! That's unnecessary roughness!" Cody shouted as he ran after her. Joe and Charlie looked towards them.  
"Don't leave us!" Joe shouted as he ran, not wanting to be left behind. Charlie followed, laughing to himself.  
As the four of them gathered for the game, our friends in Hoenn looked on. The one in red was still a bit skeptical about Cody's abilities, and the blue one was still attempting to change his mind. Mostly because he was getting quite irritated with the red one's complaining, but also because he had faith in Cody.  
"Did you see?" the blue one pointed out. "Did you not see the grand ceremony that his people have performed to celebrate the intelligence those young people possess? Surely he is worthy."  
"Yes, but..." the red one began.  
"But what! What else is there? If you're really that unsure, why don't we just kidnap him and drag him through time and space and throw a Pokémon at him? 'Here, take this and save the world,' you'd say. He would probably freak out and stab you with that green pencil. Oh yes, that would certainly get you far, wouldn't it?" the blue one roared with sarcasm.  
"You know what? That doesn't sound like a bad idea. Why not go and do it? I think that that would be the optimal method. I mean, just think about it for a second. Do you have any other ideas?"  
"Uh... no, not really. I wasn't really serious, I was just –"  
"Then it's settled. I'm off to sunny California. Are you coming with me?"  
"I think I'd better. Knowing you, you'll probably try to shrink his head or blow up a house, acting like you're so powerful."  
"Have it your way." The red one summoned a stool from the nearby air, and used it to boost himself into the pot. He was submerged in the liquid and was gone. The blue one followed suit.  
"Touchdown!" Tara yelled. "What's the score now? Forty-eight to six, our favor?" She giggled. She basked in her own personal satisfaction that she and Joe were beating Cody and Charlie, two of the best football players in the city. Quite shameful, really. Well, maybe not. I told you Tara was good.  
"You're only winning because we're letting you! Isn't that right, Cody?"  
"That's right. All we need to do is try and you'll be eating dirt before you can say 'penalty'."  
"Well, it's our turn to kick to you, and it's coming right to you, Mr. Kwan. You had best be prepared," Tara said. As she took her place, Charlie and Cody jogged to the other side of the makeshift field, and saw this as an opportunity to discuss their game plan.  
"Dude... we're getting spanked by a girl and a gay man," Charlie said. "Yeah we are," Cody agreed. After a second, he turned and pointed at the sky. "Look! Up there!"  
Charlie did as he was told. "What? Where? I don't see anything."  
"You must have missed it," Cody said. "Captain Obvious flew by."  
"Ha ha. You're a real scream," Charlie remarked. As they took their places by the end zone, they turned towards Tara to find that she was already holding up two fingers, which signaled that she was ready. Our robed men appeared overhead just as Tara was getting ready to kick.  
"And... Stop!" the red one said. Instantly, things slowed to a halt. Leaves that were blowing in the gentle wind suddenly stopped. Birds were trapped mid-flight. The four friends were stopped in place, Tara in mid- kick.  
"We need to get that one over there alone," the blue one said, pointing at Cody. "and I've got an idea. All it takes is a few words," he said, waving his hands over the ball. After mumbling for a minute or so, the ball glowed for a second, which told him that his enchantment had been a success. "All right. Our work is done here. Now all we need to do is take a spot near where the ball will land and snatch this guy when he goes to get it."  
"You sure have this all planned out," the blue one said as the two hid deep in the woods. As they entered, the red one snapped his fingers, and time started back up again, just as Tara's foot connected with the ball. It sailed high into the air, much to the surprise of the boys, who were just stricken with awe. So much so, in fact, that neither of them made an attempt to catch it, which might explain why they were losing so badly. They simply stared at the ball fly over their heads and land in the trees behind them. Even after landing, they looked at the woods, then each other, and then at Tara, who was just as dumbfounded as they were. She was the first to come back to reality, and shouted at the boys at the other end of the field.  
"Hey Cody! I said that it was coming to you! What's your problem, anyway! Go get the ball so we can do it again!"  
Tara's shouting snapped Cody and Charlie out of their stupor. "Uh... yeah, sure, whatever," Cody said, not really thinking as he ran into the trees.  
"Here he comes," the blue one said.  
"Quiet, or he'll hear you!" the red one snapped. "Wait until he gets closer, then grab him. You hold him and I'll get us back home."  
"Okay."  
Cody searched the trees and couldn't find the football for the life of him, but then he thought he saw a glow from the corner of his eye. Sure enough, this was a little bit of afterglow from the spell that had been placed on the ball, but Cody did not know this. He simply saw the ball and went to fetch it. As he got close, the two robed men made their attack.  
"Go! Get him!" the red one ordered. The one in blue ran and jumped head first into Cody's gut, knocking him to the ground. He then sat on Cody and held his arms down, allowing the red one to teleport the three of them back to Hoenn.

**End Chapter One.**


	3. Introductions and Explanations

_All trademarks and copyrights used in this story are respected and acknowledged. No infringement of copyright is intended. Please don't sue me._

"Ugh..." mumbled a half-awake Cody as he sat up. "Man, my stomach... what happened?"

In case you've forgotten already, our friend Cody was just rammed in the gut by the small person standing right over there. See him? He's the one in blue. He and his partner, the man in red, have been waiting for Cody to wake up. Let's see what happens.

"Hey, you're finally up," the red one stated. "Welcome to Hoenn. The name's Gremio. I'm the one responsible for bringing you here."  
Cody's reaction to this was not what the red one expected, as Cody almost instinctively grabbed Tara's pencil from his pocket and began to rise to his feet, ready to attack the red-robed individual. "Stay away! I know how to use this!"  
"Whoa, whoa, hold on!" Gremio pleaded as he backed away from the pencil's pointed fury. "Stop it! We're not going to hurt you anymore!"  
Cody didn't buy it. He would have continued his onslaught had both of them not heard a chuckle come from nearby. Each looked towards the man in blue. He was indeed the culprit. "Didn't I tell you this was a bad idea? Didn't I tell you that he'd attack you with the pencil? That's so great. I love it." He walked over to Cody and formally introduced himself. "I'm Tarudo," he said, making a bow. "I'm responsible for the pain you were feeling a moment ago. I must say, I didn't know I would hit you so hard. I should have held back more."  
"So... wait, what?" Cody asked, confused. He sat back down.  
Gremio sighed and removed his hood. From the looks of his face, one could guess that he was in his mid-30s by mortal standards. His skin was rough to the touch, and hints of wrinkles could be seen on his forehead. His nose was semi-large and came to a rounded point. His eyebrows were bushy and golden yellow; his hair of the same color was formed into many spiky tips that stood on end and wouldn't move more than a few centimeters if you paid them. He ran his fingers up over his forehead and through his hair. "If you're quite finished trying to damage me with that pencil, I'll try and make some sense of what we just did to you. Listen carefully. Tarudo and I sit up here all day and –"  
"Up here?" Cody inquired.  
"I'll show you later." Gremio was unexpectedly serious all of a sudden. He sat down. Cody did the same. "Now shut up and listen. Do you see that pot over there? Our job is to make sure the liquid inside it stays clear. If it ever becomes clouded, that means that the current Master is nearing his death. Because we need a Master at all times to prevent chaos, we have to scour all of Hoenn for someone to take his place."  
"The liquid was clear until a couple days ago," Tarudo added, who took a seat next to Gremio. "We've been doing this for hundreds of years, so under normal circumstances, it takes us about three hours to find someone. The Hoenn region isn't very large in terms of area... or population, for that matter. The thing, though, is that this time around, we couldn't find anyone. It was absolutely mind-boggling. Ever hear of the saying 'leave no stone unturned'? Well, with us, it was like 'turn over every stone, then do it again and a third time, then blow it up just to make sure'."  
Gremio continued with his tale. "After a day of searching Hoenn, we came to the conclusion that the next Master wasn't there. We didn't know what to do, so we called our boss and told him our dilemma. He didn't take too kindly to our having failed, so he came down and beat us up a little. After he'd had his fun, he gave us a new pot that was capable of linking with your world. With newly gained bruises and confidence, we began our search again."  
It seemed that they enjoyed taking turns talking, as Tarudo continued, almost on cue. "Lucky for us, we started with your country first. It didn't take long to pinpoint you, but we didn't know how we could get you here without drawing all sorts of attention. Then Gremio came up with the plan we used on you, and here we are."  
"I...think I get it," Cody said, finally. "But if I'm here, where are the others?"  
Gremio sweatdropped. "Well...I had to stop time in order to fix it so you'd end up alone, and I guess I forgot to restart it again..."  
Cody and Tarudo both facefaulted. After brushing himself off, Tarudo spoke up. "Well, aren't you going to go start it back up?"  
"Well, what's the point?" Gremio asked. No one knows that time's stopped. They'll stay that way until I restart, so where's the harm?"  
Tarudo was getting irritated. He buried his hooded face in his hands, then turned to face Gremio. "See that kid over there? Time isn't stopped here. That kid is going to age. HE WILL GET OLDER. Do you understand that? You'll mess up his world unless you get back there and let them age with him!"  
"Er... well, I guess you have a point," Gremio concluded. "All right. Don't go away," he said as he running jumped into the pot and was gone.  
"Neat..." Cody thought out loud. "I think I follow you guys. So what you're saying is that this Master guy croaked, and I'm his stand-in until I do the same?"  
Tarudo thought for a moment, then nodded. "Well, yes... more or less, anyway. There's more to it, though. Gremio never told you what the job requirements of the Master are, so I'll run through 'em real quick. There are only two. First, it is the job of the Master to know basic knowledge of almost all Pokémon in existence."  
"What's a Pokémon?" Cody inquired.  
"Ah...er...damn," Tarudo mumbled. He had predicted this very question from him, but he was still disappointed. "Well, I guess the easiest way to get acquainted with the world of Pokémon is to read up on it." He waved his hands a bit, and a rather large book appeared in front of Cody. "Apply our search rules to that book. Read it cover to cover, then again and a third time. You have to know what you're going to be supreme master and commander over. As a Master, you'll get this nifty thrifty Master's Badge, which is a symbol of your...Masterdom. Pokémon are something like really smart pets. If you're mean to them, they'll be twice as mean right back. The reverse of this is also true; if you treat them with kindness, they'll be your most true and loyal friends. Let me see that book a second." Tarudo spun the book around so it faced him, and he quickly skimmed the pages with his fingers while Cody watched intently. While the thought of being ultimate leader of an entire race of creatures certainly intrigued him, he was more fascinated with what was under Tarudo's hood. He didn't get a chance to express his fascination, though, because Tarudo found what he was looking for. He righted the book so Cody could read it. "These are called Badges. Each one increases the strength of your Pokémon if you're a normal Trainer. They serve as an indicator for Pokémon to see if they will obey you. The stronger a Pokémon is, the more Badges you need to control it. Since you've got the Master's Badge, you'll automatically be able to control anything the Rain Badge, the eighth Badge, allows. Badges also allow your Pokémon to use each of the ten Hidden Machines, or HMs for short. Trainers travel throughout Hoenn to collect their first eight Badges. Once they're in possession of the eighth Badge, they can challenge the Elite Four. Upon defeating them all, as well as the current champion, they will earn their ninth Badge. With that in hand, they sail to yet another competition where they can get the last Badge. Okay, now really pay attention here. This is where you come in, as far as Trainers go." "All right, I'm listening," Cody half-lied. He was still more interested in the hood. Tarudo continued anyway. "If a Trainer has ten Badges, he or she earns the right to travel through the Master's Cavern. Because it was built underwater, and is three times the size of Hoenn area-wise, you can guess that it's absolutely huge. It's riddled with the hardest tricks and traps known to man, and it contains ridiculously powerful Pokémon, although the expression "ridiculously powerful" is an understatement. Also, a perk of having the Master's Badge is that you get to control the vast majority of the Pokémon that lace the path to where you're supposed to be. If a Trainer makes it to the end, you are to be there to greet and beat them. The good thing about this is that you don't ever have to be there until just before your opponent arrives. We've got a device to teleport you there instantly..." Tarudo trailed off. He had finally wised up to Cody's spacing out and delivered a sound thwap to the side of his head. "Pay attention to what I'm saying!"  
"OW!" Cody yelled, holding the side of his head as if his brain was going to ooze from some invisible orifice were his hand not there. "You didn't have to go and do that!"  
"Yes, I did. You need to listen. We're not going to always be here, so you need to know this stuff. What's so interesting, anyway?"  
"Well... it's your hood. The other guy took his off right away – Gremio, was it? – you should do the same. Don't you get hot?"  
Tarudo sighed. "No, not really. But if it'll make you pay attention, I suppose I'll take it off."  
He reached and pulled the blue covering from his forehead. He had very smooth-looking skin and very loose, flowing, dark blue hair. He took his hair out from within his robe and let it drop in its entirety. It nearly reached the floor. His light green eyes stood out from his dark blue outfit, and gave Cody something else to look at. He stared at them almost subconsciously. "I figured this would happen," Tarudo said, and he pulled a pair of dark sunglasses from an inside pocket. He slipped them on and then stared at Cody, who suddenly snapped back to reality. "Neat, huh? I know my eyes and my outfit don't exactly match, so I have these sunglasses handy in case my hood's off. Gremio's used to it, so he doesn't stare, but if I ever need to leave here, I've got these to make it so other people don't stare, too."  
With all the accidental on-cue action going on, one could argue that the two of them had staged this whole thing, because Gremio emerged from the pot with the very mention of his name. "Took you long enough," Tarudo said, his arms crossed.  
"Things didn't exactly go as planned," Gremio began. "When I got there, I started up time, which was the only thing that really went the way I wanted. As I was getting ready to teleport back here, your Charlie friend saw me," he said, pointing at Cody. Turns out that he saw us attack you, and he recognized me. Just let me say right now that for a mortal, that guy's hella fast. Took me by surprise, he did! He tackled me to the ground and demanded information. Of course, he had no idea who he was messing with, so I used Haste on myself and became twice as fast as he was. After freeing myself from his rather sweaty grip, I introduced myself and thought it would be great to use those mini rockets you showed me, Tarudo." He then imitated a game show buzzer and coupled it with two thumbs down in Tarudo's direction, then went on. "Every single one misfired." He looked at Cody and explained what he was talking about. "Each rocket's about four inches in length. They're supposed to launch straight up into the air four feet and then explode in a shower of harmless sparks. Instead, they all felt like today was Kill Gremio Day and shot off towards me." He looked back at Tarudo. "Of course, since I was sped up by Haste, and I'm not going to be taken down by a measly mini rocket that doesn't hurt anyway, I was unscathed. Lucky for my ego, your pals bought it and took off running like small children. I saw this as an opportunity to get out and so I did. And here I am."  
"I'm not surprised that Tara and Joe booked, but Charlie? That's pretty funny, considering he's the tough guy, manly man poster child. I figured he would have beat the daylights out of you, or died trying. I'm never going to let him live that down. You made my day. Thanks," Cody said. He decided to stand up and stretch his legs, and it was then he realized just how tall Gremio and Tarudo were.

As he looked down at the robed men who barely came up to his waist, he couldn't decide whether to sit there like an imbecile and gawk at their shortness, sit there like an imbecile and wonder why he didn't notice this little detail earlier, or sit there like an imbecile and wonder how two guys as short as they were managed to take him down. "Um... I'm going to sit down now," Cody said as he did it. They were at eye level again.

Gremio and Tarudo sweatdropped. Gremio was the first to recover and quickly added, "Don't be fooled by our small stature. We're pretty strong, as you already know."  
Tarudo explained, "Some Pokémon appear cute and cuddly on the outside, but can be lethal fighters when trained properly. Take a look at this for example." He flipped through the pages and came across a small, pink, round thing with huge round eyes. He then went on to prove his point. "Consider this your first lesson. This little beast is called Jigglypuff. It is a Normal-type. There are three legal ways to obtain a Jigglypuff: catch it in the wild, trade someone for one, or evolve it from its pre-evolution. Its special ability entices the opponent if they so much as physically strike it. What's more, it possesses the ability to sing. Jigglypuff is a master of song, and can adjust its vocal chords to hit just the right pitch to make its foes fall into the deepest sleep possible. Jigglypuff is then free to beat its opponents to death using whatever attacks tickle its fancy. Did you get all that?" "Yeah, I did." Cody wasn't lying this time. He was now genuinely interested in what these two short men had in store for him. "So what do I do, anyway?" Tarudo raised his hand. "I've got your answer for that. I never told you the second requirement of being a Master. Your job is to, for lack of a better phrase, save the world. That's kind of why we've dragged you here on such short notice." His expression became very solemn out of nowhere, and his voice gained an edge of seriousness. "Eleven years ago, a water-loving organization of thugs known as Team Aqua was successful in releasing the ultra-powerful Water-type Pokémon, Kyogre." Tarudo instantly found Kyogre's data in the book and kept talking while Cody read. "Their main goal was to flood the land and send all life back to the sea. However, they underestimated Kyogre's power and Team Aqua's leader, Archie, attempted to seal it away again using the very thing that brought it back – the Blue Orb. His efforts were successful, but it was at the cost of his own life. Strangely enough, this didn't come as much of a shock to the whole of Team Aqua, because they spent little time in appointing a new leader, Brooke. The Blue Orb was taken to Mt. Pyre to be guarded by the descendants of the original tribe of people who crafted it."  
"Oh, wow, that's pretty heavy stuff," Cody said. "Still doesn't answer my question, though..."  
Gremio was tired of being silent for so long, and said, "All right, you've had your fun. Sitting here twiddling my thumbs isn't fun – I'm going to talk now." And so he picked up where Tarudo left off, with an almost identical tone. "The Blue Orb sits alongside the Red Orb, which was rumored to hold the power of Groudon, the Ground-type Continent Pokémon. I say 'was' because the polar opposite of Team Aqua, a gang known as Team Magma, summoned it just 3 years ago. Everyone, especially Team Aqua, remembered what had happened when they tried to seal it away again. The high officials of Team Magma came to the conclusion that there was only one way out, and Maxie, the leader of Team Magma at the time, wasn't too thrilled with it. However, he was willing to die for his cause, and so he did. Like Archie before him, Maxie sacrificed himself for his people." He lost a bit of the seriousness, and put a hand to his chin. "It's pretty funny, though, because the two leaders of the most feared and hated gangs in the entire world were revered as heroes after that..."  
Cody was about to say something, but Tarudo cut him off. "Background information," he said. "We're getting to it."  
Realizing his course of action had been predicted (for the second time, unbeknownst to him), all he could do is say, "...oh."  
Gremio continued. "Well, Team Magma appointed a new leader, Terrence, just as quickly as Team Aqua did before them. It's a shame, though, because neither team seems to have learned its lesson, because they've been chasing after their respective Orbs ever since that incident. And now, finally, this is where you come in." He picked up the seriousness, and finally revealed the true reason why Cody was kidnapped.

"Team Aqua and Team Magma are two of the most powerful organizations on the planet. They are both feared and respected everywhere they go. The members of Team Aqua are extremely skilled when it comes to using Water- and Dark-type Pokémon. Their new leader has whipped them all into shape, and they're more ruthless than ever before. Team Magma is no different. Their ability to use Ground- and Fire-type Pokémon well is virtually unmatched. While unfortunately, their new leader isn't as harsh as Maxie was, the team still respects him for his amazing strategic skill. Aqua's got the power; Magma's got the brains. And yet, with all this on their belts, there is yet another enemy of both Team Aqua and Team Magma. We don't know a whole lot about them, because they're relatively new as far as enemies go. They call themselves Team Storm, and we're worried because they put both teams to shame. They're that strong. We think that Team Storm excels in the use of Electric- and Grass-type Pokémon, but Tarudo has told me that he's seen a Psychic-type branch somewhere, and I know for a fact I've seen their people using some Fire-types of their own. They're truly a wildcard when it comes to battling, and it makes it hard to predict what they'll do since they don't stick with one type. Even if they don't pick on weaknesses, they've still got superior battling skills, which in the end determines the victor in any fight."  
"And the wheels are finally turning," Cody said, rubbing his hands together. He was anxious to get started with the whole thing.  
Now it was Tarudo's turn to speak. "Don't underestimate them. When they're not out in the open, they're doing nonstop training that drains their Pokemon's energy according to our search rule. Tire them out, then do it again and a third time. It's paid off, let me tell you; because of it, their endurance is much higher than normal, and it lets them survive lots of attacks, even from their weakness types. We're not sure what they're after, but we want you to be ready when they make their true motives shown. Are you up to the challenge?"  
"You're damn skippy I'm ready!" Cody said, punching his fist into his hand. "I can't wait to get started!"  
"I'm glad you're excited, but you do realize that you physically probably won't be doing much of the fighting, right? Here in this world, everything, for some odd reason, is governed by Pokémon battles. Most people will respect you because you bear the Master's Badge, but some of the older folks still loyal to the previous Master won't be so kind until you prove that you're worthy of the title in a battle. Their Pokémon have lots of experience battling, so if you challenge anyone anytime soon, chances are you're going to get wasted pretty bad. And even if you lose, there's nothing they can do about you being a Master, so you're still okay."  
"Well, if I can't beat the hell out of the leader myself, I guess commanding an army of soldiers to do the same is the next best thing. When do we start?" Cody said, trying to hide his disappointment.  
"Right away," Gremio said. "Just follow me over here..." he said as he walked, but then abruptly stopped. He turned and faced Cody and Tarudo, then sweatdropped and hung his head.  
"What's the matter?" Tarudo asked.  
"Well, think about it. Here we are, about to send this young man on a journey I'm sure he'll never forget, and, after all this, we still don't know his name..."  
"Oh yeah! I wasn't even thinking about that!" Tarudo said, who sweatdropped as well. He recovered quickly, faced Cody, and asked, "Just what is your name?"  
"Cody Kwan's my name, and apparently world-saving's my game," Cody said jokingly.  
Gremio was happy with this new discovery. "All right! Just for a refresher, I'm Gremio. My partner there is Tarudo. I'll try and remember your name, Cody Kwan, and you try to remember ours."  
"You can just use my first name, you know. You don't have to always call me 'Cody Kwan'", Cody explained.  
"Well, if that's the case, then what's the 'Kwan' part for?"  
"That's my last name."  
"A... last name?" Gremio looked at Tarudo with a puzzled look, who shrugged his shoulders. Neither knew what Cody was talking about, but Gremio tried to shed some light on the problem. "We only have one name... maybe that's the problem. I'm just Gremio. Only that. Nothing more, nothing less. Just Gremio. Same goes for Tarudo and everyone in Hoenn. Odd..."  
"Well, I don't care. I would prefer it if you just used my first name, anyway. Let's get started already!"

As he followed Gremio and Tarudo over to some sort of computer, Cody pondered to himself, "Just for laughs, I wonder if I should tell them about my middle name..."

**End Chapter Two.**


	4. The Journey Begins

_All trademarks and copyrights used in this story are respected and acknowledged. No infringement of copyright is intended. Please don't sue me._

"Come look at this."  
Gremio pointed at a window and beckoned for Cody to come, who did as he was told. "I told you I'd show you what I meant by 'up here', and so now you can see for yourself. Take a look."  
Cody peered out the small window. While he could stand and move about freely in Gremio and Tarudo's home, the window was suited for their use, not his, and so he had a bit of trouble getting a good view. "Wow, you weren't kidding," Cody said. "We must be at least ten thousand feet high!"  
"Twenty-four thousand, eight hundred feet, to be exact," Gremio explained. Our home isn't visible from anywhere, so we can do our job in peace. But I digress. Tarudo will help you get started on your training."  
The two men walked over to Tarudo, who was becoming irritated yet again. "Come on. There's no time for fooling around. We have to get you registered in our database," he explained. "Cody, come over here and tell me information as I ask for it. Is it safe to say that you'll want 'Cody' to serve as your name?"  
"Yeah..." Cody said. Tarudo didn't even look at him as he entered it into the machine.  
"How old are you?"  
"Eighteen."  
"And you're a male... right?" He turned his head and glanced in Cody's direction.  
"Yes!" Cody was surprised. "Aren't you?"  
"Well, yeah, but it's standard. I have to ask. Have you decided on a starter Pokémon yet?"  
"No... I was hoping that you could help me out with that."  
"Gremio?" Tarudo inquired.  
"Way ahead of you," Gremio responded. "Cody, come on over to this here wall and look at this poster."  
Cody once again followed orders. He looked the large poster over as Gremio explained its purpose. "This is a list of every Pokémon that's been discovered so far."  
"Only 385?" Cody said, clearly disappointed. "How am I supposed to command an army of only 385?"  
"What? No, you don't – er... I guess that's our fault. See, you don't get to use all 385 Pokémon. Even as a Master, you still have to follow standard battling procedures. Each person is only allowed a maximum of six Pokémon on his or her team. Pokémon whose names are in green instead of black are one of a kind. People have spent their whole lives searching and still never see them, Masters included. We don't know much about them, either, but enough to tell you some basic information on them. Also, because they're one of a kind, you can't use it as your starter. In fact, the only ones you can choose from are the ones whose names are written in pink. If there's an arrow pointing from one Pokémon to another, that means that the Pokémon on the left evolves into the one on the right. Study it, look it over, and make a choice. I'll be over here and... um... give you some space. Yeah, that's it."  
Gremio walked over to Tarudo, who was leaning on the machine. "Looks like I was right," Gremio said so Cody couldn't hear. "Kid's totally clueless. Maybe I really should have tossed a Poochyena at him just to see what he'd do."  
"Well, I don't know. Yeah, he's new to it, but he seems to be pulling along nicely. He just might be smarter than you give him credit for."  
"He sure is taking his dear sweet time."  
"Let him."  
"What's this? First it's 'hurry up' and now it's 'take your time'?"  
"Oh be quiet. The Pokémon he chooses is the one he'll be stuck with for the rest of his life. You never told him that, did you?" Gremio opened his mouth to answer, but Tarudo cut him off. He was annoyed again, but still spoke softly. "Didn't think so. Damn it, Gremio! Way to leave the important stuff out again!"  
"Hey, don't blame me! I've only been here for fifteen minutes. You're the one who's been with him the entire time! Didn't you tell him anything?"  
"A lot more than you have, that's for sure," Tarudo retorted.  
"That's because I _was not here_!" Gremio softly shouted. "Can't you get that through your head?"  
"Get what through your head?" Cody asked.  
Proving that fast thinking wasn't Gremio's strong suit, all he could manage to sputter out was "Er, um..."  
Tarudo ignored him and asked, "Have you made a decision yet?"  
"Yeah. I want this one," he said, pointing to a spot. "Its name is in pink, so I can have it, right?"  
The two men walked to where Cody was standing, both of them anxious to find out which Pokémon he had chosen. They looked up at his finger, then each other. Tarudo spoke up. "Yes. That's a fine choice. Are you sure you want it? It'll be a permanent part of your team, you know."  
"Yeah. It reminds me of my dog Rover back home. The name's not very creative, I know, so blame my parents, not me. He's a good dog, though, so I don't really care what his name is."  
"Well, okay. Just let me get some stuff and we'll go catch you one," Tarudo said.  
"What?" Cody asked, confused. "Can't you just wave your hand and say a few magic words and make one just appear?"  
"Don't be silly. Not only would that be cheating, but also we can't do it anyway. Only our boss has the ability to conjure a Pokémon from nothing, and he's only allowed to do it in extreme circumstances. Don't worry about it, though. It's not very hard. Besides, if being a Master meant free powerful Pokémon who respond to your beck and call without question, that'd be lazy."  
"Oh yeah? What does being a Master mean, then?"  
Now it was Tarudo's turn to think fast. He wasn't prepared for Cody's question, but you would never know that unless he told you himself; he answered, "Er... well, it means that you get to be a hero and save people from ne'er-do-wells and thugs and the like."  
"I see. And what's stopping your average run-of-the-mill yutz from going out and doing it himself?"  
"Your average run-of-the-mill yutz wouldn't go out and do it himself. That's what makes him average and run-of-the-mill..."  
Cody thought for a moment. "Point."  
"Well, if that's all for questions, let's get to getting you some supplies. Those I can conjure, to some extent," Tarudo said. Gremio walked over with a backpack and held it open, ready to receive the items Tarudo was creating. "First off, you'll need Balls of some kind if you want to catch anything."  
"Well, I'm covered in that area," Cody said. "Next?"  
"What...? Oh, nononononononono! Gah..." He slapped his forehead and wiped his hand down his face. "The devices used to catch Pokémon are called Balls. There are many different kinds of Balls. Since you're a Master, I'm going to whip up a few Great Balls for you. Those are the next step up from Poké Balls, which are all but worthless once you get a few Pokémon. Better than Great Balls are Ultra Balls, and better than those are Master Balls. Master Balls are incredibly rare, and there are only five on the entire planet."  
"Oh. Why are there so few? And why doesn't the _Master_ get _Master_ Balls? It makes sense!"  
Gremio walked off somewhere. Tarudo continued, "I knew you'd ask that. Master Balls are rare because they will catch any wild Pokémon without fail. You don't get any right off the bat because if you did, you'd learn nothing." He crossed his arms. "Man, this is going to be tough. Usually the Master knows something about Pokémon, since he's usually from Hoenn. But you..." He trailed off.  
"What? Don't think I can do it?"  
"No, it's not that. Gremio's the one who doubted you, not me. It's just that I get the feeling that you're going to embarrass yourself out there... a lot. I think it might be best that I tag along with you for a while until you get the gist of things."  
"Yeah sure whatever. Okay, so how many Great Balls do I get?"  
"Normal Trainers get five. You get the same amount."  
"Oh come on! Don't I get _any_ special treatment?"  
"Well, if you're going to be a whiny little girl about it, I can give you three more. That way, you don't have to worry if you mess up."  
"All right, that's what I'm talking about," Cody said, pounding his fists together. "What else?"  
"Your Pokémon will get beat on, so you'll need healing power. I'm giving you ten Potions and two Super Potions. Save the Super Potions for when you really need them – they're expensive."  
"How do I know when I need them?"  
"When you use the Potion and you see a minuscule change, you know it's time to upgrade. The same goes for Super to Hyper Potions."  
"How do I use them?"  
"They're one-spray bottles. Simply spray the Pokémon's body with the medicine and let the remedy work its magic. It's easy."  
"Oh. Okay. Anything else for me?"  
"No."  
"What! Aw... well, okay. So are we going to go catch my... what was it called again?" He glanced at the chart to try and catch a glimpse at its name.  
"Growlithe," Tarudo said. "Yeah, come on. We'll go get it." They walked over to the pot and Tarudo had almost jumped in when he realized that something wasn't right. "Wait..." He looked around. "Where's Gremio at? He was here a minute ago... oh well. No time to waste. Team Storm grows stronger by the day. Just let me change it so we travel around this world instead of yours..." He reached on the side of the pot and pushed a button. The pot changed from blue to green in color. "There. We're all ready. Hold onto my hand and don't let go for anything until I say," he instructed.  
"Gotcha," Cody said. He grasped Tarudo's hand while Tarudo vaulted himself into the pot with his other hand, and dragged Cody headfirst into the pot with him.  
The two landed in a grassy field. A town could be seen nearby, which appeared deserted at first glance. A closer look revealed that was indeed inhabited, but by few. "Welcome to the ground," Tarudo said. "This is Route 101. Littleroot Town's that way. There's really nothing there, but you might want to go there later and meet the locals. If you look around, you'll notice that we're in some rather tall grass. Wild Pokémon, no matter how tough they are, won't leave the tall grass, ever. If you don't want to fight anything, just walk on the short grass. Growlithe... should be around here somewhere... pick me up and put me on your shoulders. I can get a better view from there."  
Cody was a bit unwilling, but he did as he was told. Tarudo stood on his toes and put a hand up to shield his eyes from the sun. "Oh, yeah, this is much better," Tarudo said. "Now slowly turn yourself, and I'll tell you to stop when I see one."  
This he did without question. He spun himself around while Tarudo watched in the distance. "There!" Tarudo said. "Walk forward! No, run! Run straight ahead, that way!"  
Cody's sudden burst of speed was something Tarudo wasn't prepared for, amazingly enough, and Tarudo toppled off Cody's shoulders as a result. As he lie there in the grass, his body completely hidden by the grass, Tarudo moaned in pain. "Oh... man, I hurt. Cody, wait... oh, bother." He slowly stood up and brushed himself off, and tried to take a step. His sense of balance was not fully righted yet; the fact that he promptly tripped over his foot and fell was proof of this. "Well, I'm sure he can handle a Growlithe..."  
As Cody ran blindly towards his first Pokémon, he suddenly realized that a miniature man didn't weigh him down anymore. He didn't care; all that was important was capturing the small Fire-type Pokémon. "How far was he talking about?" he wondered to himself, still running. "It can't be that far. Even on my shoulders, he would only be a foot or so taller than me, so –" His thoughts were interrupted, though, as he tripped over something in the grass. Face down in the grass, he stood up and looked at what caused him to fall. In front of him stood the Growlithe that Gremio saw. And, like any creature that has just been rudely awakened, Growlithe wasn't very happy. With its back arched, claws extended, and fangs bared, it let out a growl so Cody would know that while it didn't go looking for a fight, it would be more than happy to give him one. "Hello, Growlithe," Cody said. "My name's Cody. I'm going to capture you now, okay?" He reached in his pack and removed a Great Ball from his pack. As he looked it over, he realized that Tarudo never really told him exactly how they were used. He poked and prodded at it until he pressed the button in the center. The ball grew to more than double its original size, and he was happy with this. "Oh, so that's how it works. Okay, Growlithe, get... ready? Hey!"  
While Cody was fiddling around with the Great Ball, Growlithe had taken it upon itself to flee. Cody instantly gave chase for a couple reasons. One being that he didn't want to lose his first Pokémon; the other being that he didn't want to be outrun by a puppy. However, he underestimated Growlithe's speed, and found he was trailing farther and farther behind it. "Come on... not... fair..." he panted. He stopped running, put his hands on his knees, and tried to catch his breath. When it saw that it was no longer being chased, Growlithe turned towards Cody and let out a bark. "Oh, shut up!" Cody yelled. Growlithe turned its back to Cody and began to eat some grass, when all of a sudden Cody felt something tug on his shirt.  
"Now's your chance," said a voice from behind.  
A startled Cody subconsciously removed the pencil from his pocket, turned, and pointed its... point... at the would-be intruder. "Who's there!" It didn't take long for him to figure out who the person was that was standing before him, and he returned the weapon to its pocket holster. "Oh... it's just you."  
"Sorry about back there. I didn't know you'd start off so fast," Tarudo apologized. "I kinda figured that you would start with a jog or something and work your way up to a sprint, but wow. You're pretty fast."  
"Well, apparently, not fast enough. That Growlithe thing outran me without so much as breaking a sweat, and look at me! I can barely keep up with it, and I'm out of breath!"  
"Well, why are you running after it?"  
"I was going to toss this Great Ball at it, but it ran before I could."  
"Did you really expect it to give up its freedom straight up like that? That isn't how things work. If you want a Pokémon to be under your command, you have to weaken it in a battle. Take this Poké Ball. In it contains my favorite Pokémon, Seviper. To release it, simply throw it. It'll come out when the Ball touches the ground. It's always a good idea to shout its name followed by the word "go" while throwing. I'm not sure why we do it. It's been tradition for as long as I can remember, and I've been around the block a couple hundred times. Anyway, let's try it."  
He handed Cody the Poké Ball, who looked it over. "Seviper, huh?"  
"Yes. Now hurry and toss it before Growlithe runs, and don't forget to say 'go'!"  
"Whatever you say," Cody replied. He leaned back and threw the Poké Ball, remembering to shout 'Seviper, go' like he was instructed. However, Tarudo failed to mention just how he should throw it, and so Cody, being the sporty guy he was, hurled it in fast-pitch baseball fashion. Also not being told where he should throw it, he simply aimed for the only target out there – Growlithe. The Ball hit Growlithe in the back of the head with such force that the puppy immediately fell to the ground and began twitching slightly. As for the Poké Ball, it ricocheted off of Growlithe's skull, went a couple feet in the air, and landed on the now-unconscious Growlithe's head before rolling to the ground. The Ball opened, and Seviper emerged. It uncoiled its snake body to its full length, and let out a hiss. "Did I do it? Was that right?" Cody inquired of his friend, who was still staring at Growlithe's unmoving body with wide eyes and an even wider jaw. "What?"  
"Y-y-you weren't... supposed... to do that..." Tarudo said, hanging his head. "I blame myself for this. Okay, so um... we're going to scratch the whole throwing idea. If you want to let something out, simply hold the Ball at arm's length and do the whole 'Pokémon, go' thing. Well, now we have to go to Littleroot Town and see what the professor has to say about this."  
"This just isn't fair, you know. You guys always forget to tell me the important stuff until it's too late! I'm not being held accountable for this!"  
As Cody picked up Growlithe's limp mass and carried it over his shoulder, Tarudo walked beside him. Night was beginning to fall. "Well, see? This could possibly turn into a good thing. Since it's almost night, we can ask for food and shelter because we brought this injured Pokémon to them for help," Tarudo said.  
"Uh, hello? We're the ones that injured him!"  
"What's all the 'we' stuff? If I recall correctly, you're the one who BEAT IT IN THE HEAD AT 80 MPH. Man, I would so be surprised if this thing lived."  
"Oh shut up."  
With that, the two began their short trek towards Littleroot Town.

**This ends Chapter Three. Please review the story.**


	5. A Master's Best Friend

_All trademarks and copyrights used in this story are respected and acknowledged. No infringement of copyright is intended. Please don't sue me._

When we last left our hero, he had just succeeded in literally knocking out his first Pokémon by use of fast-pitch-style Great Ball. He and his companion and supposed teacher, Tarudo, are off to Littleroot Town to give the poor Pokémon some help. Let's see how they're doing.

"You know, you're really lucky that Littleroot Town's not far. You don't want Growlithe waking up and biting various appendages because of what you did to it." Tarudo paused for a moment, then continued. "Then again, now that I think of it, what you did to it is exactly why Growlithe won't be waking up any time soon, so I guess you're safe, huh?"

"You. Don't talk. Just one foot in front of the other." Cody was getting rather irritated at Tarudo's pressing taunts about what he had done, and was considering tossing the Growlithe at Tarudo medicine ball-style just to shut him up.

"Just because you're four feet taller doesn't mean I have to listen to you," Tarudo said, pointing a finger at him. "Don't forget, I've got seniority. Until I say otherwise, _you_ answer to _me_. Understand?"

Cody said nothing, and continued carrying his load. A sign that read 'Welcome to Littleroot Town' greeted them as the two men entered the tiny settlement. Cody did a scan of the town, trying to find a hospital of some kind, but could find none. Tarudo was the last person he wanted to ask, so he drafted a nearby woman for assistance. She was kneeled by a house, tending to a garden. Whether it be from shyness or pride, all Cody did was cough to catch her attention. Whichever it was, it didn't matter. It worked. She turned and looked into Tarudo's sunglasses-eyes, then looked up at Cody. She used her hand to shield her eyes from the sun, then thought it best to get a better look. She stood up, wiped some dirt from her clothes, then removed her red bandanna and used it to mop some sweat from her forehead. "Yeah?" she asked. "Need something?"

As angry as Cody was, he didn't want to vent his anger on an innocent. He tried his best to put on a good face, and replied, "This Pokémon is injured."

"Badly injured," Tarudo added, which earned a glare from Cody.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought it was strange that your Growlithe isn't in its Poké Ball, because that's much better for it than sitting on your shoulders like that." The woman went in for a closer look, and saw the large purple bruise on Growlithe's head. "Oh, wow! Something really did a number on this little guy. What happened?"

"This Growlithe isn't mine," Cody explained. "It's wild. I was going to catch it, but I knocked it out."

"That's standard. You should have captured it after you knocked it out."

"No, you don't understand. I mean I really knocked it out! As in unconscious, not going to wake up any time soon, coma-ized knocked out."

"Oh… what did you do to it?"

"I threw my Great Ball too hard and it ricocheted off its head." After this, all the woman could do was sit there and stare with disbelief and bewilderment in her eyes.

"Where can we go to get it healed?" Cody asked.

"Take it to the professor's lab. It's that tall building over there, see? The people there will be more than happy to help you – maybe. They might just be too disgusted or amazed at what you did. Just… tell 'em that you got into a rough fight or something. You're young – I'm sure you'll do fine. I'd hurry, though. That bruise looks really bad…"

"I'll do that. Thanks," Cody said. Shifting Growlithe's weight, the two men walked to the building that the young woman had described.

Upon entering, Cody was greeted by a man dressed in the to-be-expected white lab coat. "Hello there," he said, a smile on his face. "I don't think I've seen you around here before. Are you one of the professor's new students?"

"What? No, I need help for this Pokémon," Cody said. He turned so the man could see the unconscious Growlithe.

"I see," the man replied.

'He certainly seems calm about this,' Cody thought. 'I suppose he has to have a strong stomach for his line of work.' "Do you know where we could get some medicine or something? I'm new around here…"

"Certainly. Follow me over here, and we'll try and fix him right up."

The three men went over to a waiting area of sorts. It was blandly decorated; only a single frame graced the white walls that surrounded them. It held the professor's diploma. "The Rustboro City Pokémon Trainer's School recognizes that Isaac Birch has completed the required courses to be acknowledged as a professor of Pokémon," Cody read. "Huh. Well, I guess this guy knows what he's talking about, eh?"

"Well, that's what it's there for, young man," a voice from behind said. Cody turned to find a white man standing there, arms crossed. He wore a blue sleeveless shirt with brown khaki pants, and had a brown duffel bag at his feet. His dark brown hair was combed straightforward, and he had recently shaved, so the stubble could be clearly seen. "I've been doing this for many years, and the Pokémon around here trust me as if I was one of them."

"Hey there, Birch," was heard from below. Both men looked to the floor to find Tarudo staring back up at them. "How have you been?"

"Oh, Tarudo!" the professor exclaimed. "What brings you down here?"

"Hey, wait a second. I thought you said that no one knew you guys existed," Cody pointed out.

"What? No, Professor Birch has known about us for the longest time. Our boss has ordered us to report to the professor in the event of a new Master, a natural disaster, or anything else the boss deems worthy. Oh, that reminds me. Professor, this is Cody. He's the new Master, and this Growlithe you see was supposed to be his first Pokémon."

"What happened?" asked the man.

"Well, see, Cody's not from Hoenn," Tarudo explained. "Twenty minutes ago, he had no idea what a Growlithe was. He hasn't even caught this thing yet, because he rendered it unconscious."

"Interesting," said the professor, rubbing his chin. "But hey, Cody, welcome to Hoenn. After we're done fixing up Growlithe, we'll have you catch it, and then I'll try to get you up to speed on what's going on. How's that sound?"

"Great. Thanks, Professor," Cody said. "Is there somewhere I can get something to eat? I'm starving."

"Sure. We can go back to my house for some dinner after we get Growlithe properly medicated. Follow me."

The three went into another room filled with odd-looking machinery. In the center of the room was a small table, used to hold the Pokémon the professor worked on.

"Not only am I excellent at Pokémon facts, I dabble a bit in nursing as well," the professor bragged. "This facility doesn't have features like most Pokémon Centers do, but we're able to fix minor injuries here. Put Growlithe on the table there."

"What's a Pokémon Center?" Cody asked.

Professor Birch rummaged through a few drawers. "It's a place where you can go to instantly heal your Pokémon, free of charge. You also go there to switch around the Pokémon you carry with you, and you can even trade with people on other continents." He pulled out a syringe and held it between two fingers as he opened up a jar of fluid. He inserted the syringe into the jar and filled it with the fluid. "All major locations have a Pokémon Center. Don't hesitate to stop by if your Pokémon are hurt from battle."

"Oh, all right," Cody said. "What is it you plan on doing with that thing, Professor?"

"The fluid I just put into this syringe is called Winexpa. It's used for reducing swelling. I'm going to take the Winexpa and inject it at the heart of Growlithe's injury to make the swelling go down. That's all it should take, really. After that, we let Growlithe rest. It should wake up naturally, but I'm not sure what'll happen after it wakes up. Since you never caught Growlithe, it's still wild. There's no telling what it'll do."

The professor than proceeded to carefully insert the syringe's needle into Growlithe's furry skull, then slowly pushed on the end to insert the medicine. "There. That ought to do it. We'll put it in this cage so it won't escape when it wakes up."

"But wait. Shouldn't I catch it now? It's sleeping, right? So that means that it's easier to catch… or something. Right?" Cody looked around for confirmation.

"Well," the professor began, "yes, that's true, but not _completely_ true. Studies have shown that, yes, it _is_ easier to catch Pokémon when you alter their status – that is, poison them, burn them, or, like you mentioned, put them to sleep. The problem here, though, is that you didn't exactly put him to sleep yourself."

"Yes he did," Tarudo said with a smirk.

"Come on, Tarudo, lay off," the professor said. He went on. "What I meant was that you never used any sleep moves to make Growlithe go to sleep. It's just as if you had found it snoozing in a field. In short, it's not going to be any easier."

"Oh," Cody said, a bit disappointed. "Well, that doesn't matter right now. What does matter is that I'm famished and I'm so hungry I could eat a three-foot-tall 'man' who's been giving me grief since we got here." Whether it was because he didn't care or he didn't hear, Tarudo gave no response to this remark.

"Ah, I almost forgot! Come over to my place, and we'll have a bit to eat. My daughter has just arrived all the way from Kanto, so you can meet her, too."

Almost without thinking, Cody replied, "How old is she?"

"Twenty-five," Birch said. "In fact, she just recently had a birthday. Well, we won't get food from just sitting here. Let's head back to my place. It isn't far from here."

"Sounds good to me," Cody said. By this time, the skies above Littleroot Town were dark, and its inhabitants began to lock their doors for the night. It didn't take too long for the three guys to reach their destination, and a young woman was there to greet them.

"Hi, Dad," she said. "I just finished making dinner, and –" She looked and saw that two other people were at the professor's sides. "Oh, it's you two! Did you get some help for that poor Growlithe?"

"Yeah, thanks to your old man. My name's Cody," he said, extending a hand.

The woman reciprocated. "Welcome to Littleroot Town, Cody. I'm May. I see you've already met my dad. Who's this?"

"Tarudo, ma'am," the small one replied.

"Well, Cody and Tarudo, it's a good thing you two showed up. I was a little worried I had made too much food, but it looks like that won't be a problem now! I'll go get some extra plates."

The professor removed his coat and hung it on a nearby rack. As they walked to the table, he saw the flower pattern tablecloth and was reminded of something. "May, I saw the Priphea outside. Are you sure that they will bloom here?"

"They should," she replied, setting plates in front of each of the men. "Priphea bloom just about anywhere, as long as they get adequate sunlight. That's why they're so popular in Kanto, but I'm surprised that there are no Priphea in Hoenn…"

"Probably because Hoenn and Kanto are so far away from each other," Tarudo chimed in.

"Yes, that's true," the professor added. "Just how long did it take to get here, May?"

"Um…" she began. "Well, first I had to walk from Celadon to Vermilion… and… then I took a ferry from there to Olivine. After that, I had to wait another day to transfer to another ferry that took me to Dewford. It isn't far from Dewford to Petalburg, so I just surfed there on Swampert. After that, I walked here, so… I'm guessing three days."

"Really! Wow," the professor said. "I didn't know Kanto was that far. I'd like to go there sometime."

As May brought various food dishes to the table, she added, "You know, Dad, you should meet Professor Oak. He was in Celadon City a couple weeks ago meeting with the Gym Leader there." She sat down and continued. "I got a chance to talk with him before he went back home, and we talked about all sorts of things. In fact, it's made me reconsider becoming a professor myself."

"That's wonderful, May," Professor Birch replied. "But keep in mind that there's nothing wrong with being just a regular Trainer."

"I know, but sometimes I feel that it's more rewarding to expand my knowledge of Pokémon than it is to win a few fights. _Sometimes_. Don't think I'll get rusty or anything!"

"Oh, no, I wouldn't dream of it, dear." He turned to Cody and said, "So tell me, Cody. Just what happened to Growlithe?" Tarudo lit up at this question, because he delighted in Cody's mishap and wanted to listen to how Cody was going to weasel his way out of it.

But he didn't. Much to Tarudo's disappointment, Cody simply said, "I threw Tarudo's Seviper's Poké Ball at it like I was a major league baseball player."

"And how did _that_ happen?" Birch said, throwing a glare in Tarudo's direction.

"Er, well," Tarudo stammered. He was saved, however, by a low, barely audible sound could be heard by all and felt by one. The professor reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone. "Birch here… oh, really? Great. We're on our way." As he hung up the phone, he began to get up out of his chair. "Cody, that was one of my aides. It seems Growlithe has woken up. Let's go."

"Mmhm," Cody said, in the middle of enjoying May's cooking.

"Go ahead, it's okay," May said. "If you want, I can heat it up again for you, and you can eat some when you get back."

After swallowing a few more bites, he answered. "Oh, no, that's fine. I'm full now. Please excuse me." He ran through the door the professor had left open and quickly joined him, not caring that he had left someone behind. "Aren't you going to go with him?" May asked.

"No," Tarudo replied, putting on his hood.

"Oh. I'm sure Dad won't mind if you guys stay the night. It's getting pretty late, after all. You can sleep on the couch over there."

Tarudo removed his sunglasses and put them back in his robe. "No thanks. I'll just wait outside for them. Thanks for the food." He hopped from his chair and left, closing the door behind him.

When Cody and the professor arrived back at the lab, they saw that things were not going like they had hoped. A female aide spoke up. "Professor! This Growlithe went berserk when it woke up, and it's been thrashing about in this cage ever since! We've been trying to keep it inside, but the cage is going to break if we don't do something!"

"Hmm…" the professor said, rubbing his chin. "Let it out."

"Hey, no, wait a second! I'm supposed to catch that thing!" Cody protested. "What are you thinking!"

"You'll see. Just let Growlithe out of the cage."

"Yes, sir," the male aide said, and did as he was told. The four of them watched as Growlithe stopped the assault of its prison, looked around a little, then calmly walked out. It sniffed around the area, then went over to Cody and the professor. It stared up at Cody and let out a bark.

"What the…" Cody said.

"I thought so," Birch said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bit of something. He offered this bit of something to Growlithe, who began to sniff it. Almost instantly, Growlithe took the item in its mouth and devoured it. "It must have felt very confined in that small cage. All it wanted was a little more room to move around."

"I see," Cody noted. "Can I catch it now?"

"Sure. Just toss one of your Poké Balls at it. Tarudo should have taught you how to use them."

"No, not really. I figured it out myself. You press this button and it grows. Then you toss it at them, right?"

"Yes. As long as your Poké Ball is empty, you can throw it as hard as you want, but you don't really need to do that. Don't ever try to catch a Pokémon with a Poké Ball that already has a Pokémon inside, or else you'll…hurt it…" The professor paused for a moment for his brain to register what he just said. "You mean to tell me—"

"Uh-huh."

"But you don't have any Pokémon. What did you use?"

"Tarudo's Seviper."

"I can't believe he didn't tell you these things. Well, now you know. You may throw when ready."

"All right, I can do this," Cody said, removing a Great Ball from his pocket. He pressed the center button and the ball grew. "So now… just throw it." He stepped back and began to wind up for another pitch, but he rethought his course of action and simply decided to go for an easy underhand toss. The ball hit Growlithe and bounced off it. The ball opened, and a red light enveloped the small Pokémon. In a second, the light was sucked into the ball, which closed and dropped to the floor. "Yes! I did it! I caught my first Pokémon!"

"Not so fast, Cody. Take a look," the professor said, pointing to the ball. Cody watched as the ball began to shake. It shook again, and a third time. With the third shake, the ball opened and the red light spat out Growlithe. The ball fell over and disintegrated before his eyes. Growlithe growled and barked a few times at Cody.

"Okay, what the hell," Cody said.

"Growlithe is at maximum energy. Just tossing Poké Balls at every Pokémon you see without any effort isn't going to get you anywhere. If you want to increase your chances of catching a Pokémon, you must weaken it in battle. Didn't Tarudo tell you that?"

"Um… yeah, I think so," Cody said. "But still, he never told me that my Pokémon will break out of the ball. I was going to use Tarudo's Seviper, but I kind of messed up. I guess I should do it right this time." He turned to Growlithe and bent down so they were near eye level. "You'd like that better, wouldn't you?" Growlithe let out a bark. "Well, that's settled," Cody said, standing back up. "Do you have a Pokémon I can use, professor?"

"Sure thing," Birch said. He went over to a shelf and looked around. "Hmm… let's see… ah, yes, this should do nicely." He removed one of the Poké Balls from the shelf and tossed it to Cody. "Inside this Poké Ball is a Spheal. It's a Water- and Ice-type Pokémon, and its special ability protects it against fire and ice attacks. I don't think Growlithe knows any Fire-type moves yet, but I taught this Spheal how to surf. It shouldn't take much to knock out Growlithe using it. But… let's take the battle outside." Cody and the professor walked outside, followed by a very energetic Growlithe.

"All right, show me your stuff," Birch said.

"No problem," Cody said. He held Spheal's ball, hand extended, and shouted. "Spheal, go!"

The ball opened up, and a red light spewed out the small, round Pokémon. "Cody, I'll coach you for this first battle. Battling takes a lot of skill, and it takes a little getting used to. Usually, each Pokémon takes turns attacking each other, but sometimes you might be able to attack twice if your Pokémon is fast or the opponent is unable to attack. We don't need to use any of Spheal's other attacks other than Surf. Command Spheal to use Surf."

"Okay then," Cody said. "Spheal, use Surf!"

A wall of water rose from under Spheal. Growlithe looked up at Spheal and let out a small whimper as this wall came rushing towards Growlithe. Spheal jumped off the water wall as it crashed into Growlithe, who was rammed into the ground. As the water subsided, Spheal let out a bark and clapped its flippers. Growlithe lie on the ground, unmoving.

"I guess Spheal was stronger than I thought. Growlithe has fainted, and it's considerably easier to catch a Pokémon once it faints. Try to catch it again."

"All right!" Cody removed another ball from his pocket and threw it at Growlithe. After being sucked into the ball, he watched as it shook once, and again, and a third time. After a second, it was still. "Is that it?"

"Yep. That's all there is to it."

"It's not going to break out again?"

"Nope. It's yours now. It will listen to your every command. Go pick up your new Pokémon."

"Sweet," Cody said as he picked up the Poké Ball. Spheal, who had witnessed this, clapped. "What do I do with Spheal?"

"Ah, I almost forgot. After a battle is over, or if your Pokémon faints, you must put it back in its Poké Ball. To do this, hold its ball at arm's length, say the Pokémon's name, and then say 'return.' You have to be careful, though, because there is an attack called Return. To distinguish between the two and not confuse your Pokémon, you should command your Pokémon to use 'Return attack' instead of just 'Return.'"

"I get it. Spheal, return." A beam of red light shot from the Poké Ball, enveloped the seal Pokémon, and returned from whence it came.

"Actually, I'm surprised that you don't have a Scanner yet. All Trainers have one," the professor said, rubbing his chin. "I guess we'll have to get you one, huh?"

"Sure…" Cody replied, not really knowing what to say. "Say, where's Tarudo?"

"He must be back at my place. But about the Scanner, we'll worry about that tomorrow. You should get some sleep. We'll find some room for you."

"Thanks. I appreciate that, Professor," Cody said with a small bow. The two men walked back towards the house where May had already succumbed to the angel of sleep. Tarudo had only waited outside for a few minutes before going back inside. He fought fiercely, but it wasn't long before he became the second victim in the house. Cody tried not to step on him as he made his way upstairs.


End file.
